The only way that vase with paperweight bottom ever saw anything French is if it went to France for a holiday. Good call Ray, definitely Murano. A nice vase and a nice millefiori base, but not Baccarat at all.

Ray, can I ask a question as I'm puzzled and trying to learn some more? There is a mark shown in the eBay listing, which isn't very clear for sure, but it looks like the Baccarat mark shown on Angela's site here: http://www.great-glass.co.uk/glass%20notes/marka-h.htm. What is it that makes you think that the vase isn't Baccarat if it has this mark, or is the mark in the eBay listing not the same as that on Angela's page?

Anne's question is very relevant. There are many known cases of Murano weights with an etched "Baccarat" stamp :!: Many can be found in eBay.

It is known that a false Baccarat etched stamp has been used for some time on a variety of glassware, and that often the decanter & glasses are easily seen as being of the wrong shapes (having first seen real Baccarat marks, of course).

Sometimes, the fake stamps are not very clear and can even appear as "double-etched" (with what looks like a shadow second mark).

As well as having an incorrect Baccarat stamp, the canes in this item are certainly Murano and nothing like genuine Baccarat canes. One point to add to the confusion is that we cannot be sure that items like this were actualy made in Murano, as Murano canes have been used by other glassworks around the world (I understand that they are still used these days by some American paperweight makers). On the other hand, these pieces could be genuine Murano-made items but with a false stamp added later. Truth is, I don't know what's true, other than the existance of the false Baccarat stamps.

[By the way, Anne, your link to the Great Glass info is, of course, not to one of Angela's sites.]

Kev, thank you for the explanation. That makes everything clear. The mark on the eBay one does look slightly doubled, as if there is a shadow. I couldn't tell if it was due to the poor photo, or my screen, or what! I wasn't aware of fake Baccarat marks - so that's an eye-opener.

Also, thanks for correcting my link - Great Glass is, of course, Philip Petrides, not Angela. I don't know why I got that mixed up - put it down to being sidetracked by watching the webcams in haunted houses over Hallowe'en! :oops: :lol: